The main changes affecting County Monaghan arising from the re-structuring of local government is the abolition of the five Town Councils and the establishment of three new Municipal Districts. These changes come into operation from the 1st June, 2014. As and from this date Local Government will be operated by a single administration structure and [...]

Here are the Proposed plans for the improvement works being carried out in Cara Street with parking, excercise area and access to the future marina . These plans are subject to final budgets. Let us know what you think please leave a comment by clicking on this link. Open Playground pdf Open Street [...]

Category: General Interest

Monaghan Rose

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Photos by JamesLS Photography
It’s been a long 23 years since Monaghan was last represented in the Dome at the Rose of
Tralee International Festival. Back then it was the late Sinead Murphy of Emyvale, but the
county has high hopes of Clontibret native Eleanor Mc Quaid going all the way to Tralee this
August.
Eleanor was selected at the Glencarn Hotel in Castleblayney last Saturday night and is now
on her way to the regional selection in Portlaoise this June bank holiday weekend compete
against neighbouring counties and claim her place on the Rose tour in August. The 2013
Monaghan rose said of winning the crown that she was
“My initial reaction was one of complete shock, disbelief and elation! Given the beautiful
and talented group of young women who entered this year’s competition, I found it very
difficult to believe that I had won! I immediately got that sudden feeling where your heart is
beating so fast it’s going to burst through your chest! Soon I was searching for my family and
friends, who have been a huge support for me through everything. Luckily I didn’t have to
look far as they were straight up to lay on the hugs and kisses! Cameras were in full flow,
and all the girls were there beside me through a very daunting experience! Now that the dust
has settled (so to speak!), I feel truly humbled, honoured and so excited to be this year’s
representative for the aspiring young women of Monaghan. On a more personal level I am
privileged to represent my local community of Clontibret and would like to sincerely thank
Gormley uPVC Systems for their generous sponsorship. I also wish to thank Monaghan
Rose Centre for their wonderful support and guidance thus far, and to the hugely talented
young women who entered this year’s competition and made it an experience of a life-time!
To those who are considering entering next year – go for it!”
Eleanor, a 24 year old physiotherapist in Beaumount Hospital, Dublin is from Coolartra,
Clontibret and is the eldest daughter of John and Mary Mc Quaid. Eleanor is a keen camogie
player and has had the honour of captaining the Irish Shinty/Camogie team in their test
series against Scotland in 2007.
Ms. Mc Quaid and the twelve other girls who were vying for the title of Monaghan Rose were
put through their paces in a series of one on one interview with the three judges representing
the Rose of Tralee Festival, on Saturday morning followed by group interviews where the
girls were asked to talk about a range of current topical issues. Finally on that night MC
Connor Phillips from Cool Fm radio interviewed the contenders on stage. The crowd was
entertained throughout by the exceptional young Monaghan women.
The Clontibret lass impressed throughout and claimed the coveted sash and tiara from last
year’s Monaghan Rose, Caoimhe Flanagan.
Speaking of her experience during the Monaghan selection Eleanor said, ”I have definitely
enjoyed the experience so far! With thanks to Eoin Treanor, Nicola Hackett, and our
beautiful former Rose Caoimhe Flanagan, we were fortunate to enjoy a fabulous tour of
Monaghan, and since that day I knew that I had made the right decision, regardless of
the result. While on the tour I realised just how special Monaghan is, and it is something
I feel every young woman should experience. We have a hugely rich history, which was
passionately described to use by talented Curator of Monaghan Museum, Liam Bradley.
We also have fantastic entrepreneurs in Monaghan, and I wish to thank David Smyth and
colleagues at Rally School Ireland, who gave us such a fun experience on the track! Being a
part of Monaghan Rose 2013 has reinforced my immense pride and love for the county and
its people. The huge number of kind messages and phone-calls from family, friends and the
wider Rose community, at home and abroad, has truly overwhelmed me and touched my heart, I only hope I can fill this role to the quality it deserves! I look forward to Regionals in
Portlaoise at the beginning of June, and intend to embrace my role as Monaghan Rose for
2013.”
Eleanor takes to the stage alongside Daithi O’Se and the other Roses throughout the world
on Friday, May 30th in the Heritage Hotel, Portlaoise and we certainly hope this will be the
year Monaghan goes all the way to the Dome and perhaps even further.

Cllr. Deirdre Kelly awarded

Engagement with Citizens at Local level

We would like to congratulated Cllr. Deirdre Kelly for her award
Clones Councillor Awarded for work on dangerous driving
Fianna Fáil Leader Micheál Martin has congratulated Cllr. Deirdre Kelly for her award at the LeaDeR awards held by the ALDE Party in Brussels, Wednesday December 19th.
Cllr. Kelly was nominated in the Category of Engagement with Citizens at Local level. She was awarded for her “unstinting work to resolve anti-social/dangerous driving practices on the main Clones to Cavan road.”
Party Leader Micheál Martin said: “This is great achievement for Deirdre and her work over many years to raise awareness and change policy and behaviour on this issue. I want to thank Deirdre for her ongoing work on Clones Town Council and congratulate her on receiving this award from our political group in Europe. This is another example of the ongoing work by Fianna Fáil Councillors across the country to represent and improve their communities.”
Councillor Kelly said: “I am delighted to have received this award from the ALDE group. These awards are an important way to spread the good ideas and best initiatives throughout Europe. I felt it was important that this issue was raised in Brussels and it gave me the opportunity to highlight the difficulties we encounter while addressing anti social driving practices given our proximity to the border. It also gave me the opportunity to advocate on behalf of the people of Clones and surrounding area to ensure that these issues are taken on board when introducing European policy. Cllr Kelly said the award enforced her determination to find a lasting solution to this issue in order that residents can live in peace and without fear and that people can travel this road safely.
There were 350 people from all over Europe nominated for the awards. From this the 3 man judging panel shortlisted 25 people. After further deliberation there was 7 winners chosen under the various categories and therefore it is a huge honour to be chosen as winner of the category “Most effective party engagement with citizens” and I was delighted to be able to attend the award ceremony in Brussels.
I want to thank everyone who are helped me in Clones in raising awareness of dangerous driving and the need for certain drivers to change their behaviour and help save lives. I would also like to thank Francis Freeman Chairman of Clones Fianna Fáil Comhairle Ceantair for nominating me for this award.
Finally, Cllr Kelly said she would like to thank all those involved in the LeaDeR Awards and in particular Bas Verkerk, President of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe and Ramona Mǎnescu, Vice-President of the party.”
Photos of the ceremony can be seen on Flickr page: http://www.flickr.com/photos/aldecor.
The videos that were shot during the evening can be found on YouTube page: http://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3-GV_tC5LZJj1a8CbCzVFQ?feature=watch

Football 4 Peace

Football 4 Peace Sport Coach Training Programme

Football 4 Peace is an emerging non-governmental organization providing training and delivery of activity based community relations and reconciliation initiatives. Closing date for applications is Friday 22nd February 2013. There is expected to be a large interest in this course. Applicants will be contacted to confirm their acceptance.

Succeed in Ireland initiative

That Clones Town Council invites Alan Gallagher Business Development Manager at Connect Ireland to give a presentation to Clones Town Council, Council, Clones Regeneration Partnership and Clones Chamber of Commerce in order to promote and discuss the ‘Succeed in Ireland’ initiative to targeting new job opportunities with a view to creating jobs.

Because Clones is strategically located along the Border with Northern Ireland and we are only over an hour and half’s commute from Dublin and Belfast it is important that we promote Clones as an attractive place to do business.

We have excellent infrastructures in place in so far as we have a new Primary School, an excellent Secondary School, a State of the Art County Library, Primary Care Facility, a soon to be €8 million Iconic Sports Facility. The €1.6 million Clones Erne East Blackwater Development will also see the upgrade of the local Playground, an upgrade of the Ulster Canal Stores and an upgrade to our Angling Infrastructure. We are also looking forward to the reopening of the Ulster Canal and therefore it is important that we promote and highlight the benefits of this and the aforementioned developments from a social, economic and regenerative perspective to attract new investment to the Town.